Saturday, October 20, 2012

Brownies, and Other Things I'm Bad At

I decided to try again with the brownies today. Michele said they were a lot better than yesterday's, but still only partially edible. I tried to convince myself that they are very good by eating several and got a stomachache for my efforts. My dear friend Duchess has advised me that being bad at one thing will keep me humble and my adoring sister has commented that I am "annoyingly good at everything else." That got me thinking about the many other things that I'm not good at:

Driving stick shift cars- after 15 years with Michele, I am finally able to drive, only forward and only in first gear, and park.

Lawn care

Pumpkin pie - for some reason it always comes out tasting like sweet potato pie, which, since Michele loves pumpkin, is a problem.

Returning phone calls

Putting things "somewhere I'll remember"- I always forget. ALWAYS!

A host of other things I've put somewhere I'll remember (see above)

I think the thing is that most of the things I'm really bad at are really hard (stick shift) or really horrendous (cleaning bathrooms), so I don' t feel bad about being bad at them. Brownies are five or so simple ingredients mixed in a bowl and thrown in the oven. I'm not sure what could be easier, but I somehow render those simple ingredients completely inedible!
I've decided to stop trying. Nineteen years of effort is enough. I'm going to focus on bettering myself in one of my other growth areas, like returning calls. I'll start by making a note of each caller and putting that reminder somewhere I'll remember.